Contents

Summary

A police officer asks his town coroner about a corpse that is being examined, and notes that at least seven other people are dead. What appears to be black blood leaks from the corpse when cut, and the coroner tells the officer that it is who, not what, he should be concerned with. The officer returns to the scene to find more information on who caused the deaths. He finds a lady who points out to him a young boy who claims to have been a witness. The officer brings the boy back to his office and the officer uses the boy to guide himself in drawing a young man and woman whom the boy claims caused the deaths.

Meanwhile, a girl and her brother, who resemble the people in the drawing, are hitchhiking in the back of a pickup truck. The brother tells the driver that they are heading to Brooklyn, New York, that his sister is sick, and that they have found a man there who can save her. The driver replies that he can take them as far as San Cristobal. The sister is reading chapter 5 of Chandra Suresh's book, Activating Evolution. The chapter explains that even seemingly harmful mutations can bring hidden good; and that humanity is obligated to explore and understand its own mutations in order to ensure that hidden gifts from nature are not overlooked.